Definition of “experience” - English Dictionary

American
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“experience” in English

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experiencenoun

uk ​ /ɪkˈspɪə.ri.əns/ us ​ /ɪkˈspɪr.i.əns/

B1 [ U ] (the process of getting) knowledge or skill from doing, seeing, or feeling things:

Do you have any experience of working with kids? (= Have you ever worked with them?)
The best way to learn is by experience (= by doing things).
I know from experience that Tony never keeps his promises.
I don't think she has the experience for the job (= enough knowledge and skill for it).
In my experience, people generally smile back if you smile at them.
The experience of pain (= what pain feels like) varies from one person to another.

B1 [ C ] something that happens to you that affects how you feel:

I had a pretty unpleasant experience at the dentist's.
It was interesting hearing about his experiences as a policeman.
I did meet him once and it was an experience I shall never forget.

More examples

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Grammar

Experience or experiment?We use experience as a verb when something happens to us, or we feel it. It is rather formal: …

Idiom(s)

put it down to experience

experienceverb [ T ]

uk ​ /ɪkˈspɪə.ri.əns/ us ​ /ɪkˈspɪr.i.əns/

B1 If you experience something, it happens to you, or you feel it:

We experienced a lot of difficulty in selling our house.
New companies often experience a loss in their first few years.
It was the worst pain I'd ever experienced.

More examples

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Grammar

Experience or experiment?We use experience as a verb when something happens to us, or we feel it. It is rather formal: …

(Definition of “experience” from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

“experience” in American English

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experiencenoun [ C/U ]

us ​ /ɪkˈspɪər·i·əns/

› (the process of getting) knowledge or skill that is obtained from doing, seeing, or feeling things, or something that happens which has an effect on you:

[ U ] Do you have any experience working with children?
[ U ] I know from experience that it can get quite cold in Maine this time of year.

experienceverb [ T ]

us ​ /ɪkˈspɪər·i·əns/

› to have something happen to you, or to do or feel something:

The community has experienced rapid residential growth.
She began to experience sharp pains in her elbow.

(Definition of “experience” from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

“experience” in Business English

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experiencenoun

uk ​ /ɪkˈspɪəriəns/ us ​

› [ U ] HR knowledge or skill that you get from doing, seeing, or feeling things, or the process of getting this:

His knowledge and experience will be a great asset to the board in our future growth.
have experience of sth Do you have any experience of working with heavy machinery?
gain/get experience As we gained experience of interpreting the data we were able to work faster.
experience as sth They employed someone with many years' experience as a mine regulator.
experience in sth Their experience in marketing and promotion has brought excellent results.
work/professional experience My work experience includes one year as an accounts clerk, and two years as a shop assistant.
past/previous/prior experience No previous experience is necessary as full training will be offered.
extensive/considerable experience Carol has extensive experience in consumer advice and trading standards.
practical/relevant experience
personal/first-hand/direct experience
I have three years of experience.
by/from experience I know from experience that the manager's job does not end at closing time.
in sb's experience In our experience, the most successful projects come from strong, diverse teams.

› [ C ] something that happens to you that affects how you feel:

a good/great/positive experience We want to make visiting the website a good experience for all our users.
a useful/valuable/educational experience
be/provide/offer an experience It was an amazing experience to participate in the forum.
customer/shopping/learning experience People who shop here care about the customer experience and the quality of service they receive.

See also

hands-on experience
work experience

experienceverb [ T ]

uk ​ /ɪkˈspɪəriəns/ us ​

› if you experience something, it happens to you or affects you:

experience a problem/difficulty We experienced a lot of difficulty in selling our house.
New companies often experience a loss in their first few years.
This family business has experienced steady growth and now employs 40 people.

(Definition of “experience” from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

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experience

I know from my own personal experience the different preconceptions that have to be taken into account when considering issues of labelling.
From Europarl Parallel Corpus - English
Cooperation at an early stage across group boundaries, which was our experience particularly with the milk sector, has finally paid off.
From Europarl Parallel Corpus - English
As you will have noted, there is no doubt that our joint approach, the result of long interinstitutional experience, is bearing fruit.
From Europarl Parallel Corpus - English
While we may not yet have the capacity to wage war in defence of our values, we have long experience at winning the peace.
From Europarl Parallel Corpus - English
The purpose of a horizontal directive would be to freeze a number of areas which, as we know by experience, develop the whole time.
From Europarl Parallel Corpus - English
I have personal experience of this.
From Europarl Parallel Corpus - English
Experience shows, moreover, that, as a policy, the preference system has, in very many ways, so far been of a symbolic nature.
From Europarl Parallel Corpus - English
My past experience as a local government administrator taught me that that rule contributes effectively to preparing projects correctly and accurately and to managing funds.
From Europarl Parallel Corpus - English
Our experience should widen our vision, strengthen our position, so that we may seize the opportunities that lie within the management challenges that we face.
From Europarl Parallel Corpus - English
We have already seen, to our horror, what happens when asylum-seekers make appeals of this sort, and so we do not want to repeat the experience with would-be immigrants.
From Europarl Parallel Corpus - English
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